


Ben, Danielle, and their Three Musketeers

by jordahparrish



Category: The Lodge (UK TV)
Genre: F/M, Taking place after 2x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 13:26:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12190818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordahparrish/pseuds/jordahparrish
Summary: After figuring out that Alex and Skye's surprise wasn't the only major happening on Solus, Noah gets a small team together - and together they try to figure out what exactly happened between Ben and Danielle.





	Ben, Danielle, and their Three Musketeers

Ben couldn’t shake the words Danielle had said to him in the wood shed, she was genuine, and that hurt. He could tell she was still trying her best to keep up appearances, but by her words he knew she was in pain. She needed somebody, and she wanted that somebody to be Ben. She was right, why should he spend his time chasing after Skye when it would only lead to his own heartbreak anyway. When she said those words ‘you don’t have to’ he realized what she truly meant. He didn’t have to waste his time with Skye because she was there. Danielle liked him. It would have been a perfect moment had Sean not suddenly shown up, and Ben knew he was going to kiss Danielle in that moment. He didn’t know whether to be thankful for Sean showing up or not. Surely Sean had noticed that something was off, he mentioned the wood shed again later so he must have known something. Or perhaps he was truly clueless.

He folded the bed sheets as though in a trance, Danielle wasn’t going to leave his mind anytime soon. Ben couldn’t lie to himself, he was fond of Danielle – she was, in fact, a beautiful girl. The only reason he hadn’t liked her in the past was because he knew she was the type of girl that used money to get her way, the type of girl that put herself first in any situation. Still, with those thoughts, he knew she was beautiful. When they were in the cave together, he could tell Danielle was different, they were alone and she seemed nicer. Perhaps the whole spoiled rotten girl thing was a front and she truly was a kind soul. His focus was brought back to the real world when Noah waved his hand in front of him.

“Uh, Noah, hi.”

“What is going on? What happened on the island? All of you are acting weird. Especially you, you’ve been looking like a mindless zombie all day!”

“I, uh…”

“Danielle!”

“What?” Ben stared at the boy with wide eyes.

“She’s acting weird as well, and I mean _weird_ , did you guys find a dead body or something? Because I’d be looking like you too if that happened to me.”

“Uh, no,” he cleared his throat, “Danielle’s… Acting weird?”

“Yeah, she keeps staring off into the distance like she’s having some deep thoughts, and this is Danielle – the girl is as shallow as a puddle, deep thoughts aren’t a Danielle trait.”

“Some puddles can be deep,” he shrugged.

“Oh, so you think Danielle is a deep puddle?”

“Like a puddle you think is shallow, but you jump in and it’s up to your knees.”

“Danielle Clarke, the knee deep puddle.”

Ben let out a quick chuckle, “anyway, uh, nothing really happened on the island. Other than the whole Alex and Skye thing.”

“Cool,” Noah nodded slowly, “so why are you so zombie like if nothing happened?”

“Tired, just tired,” Ben bluffed, dropping the bed sheet he was holding, “nothing to worry about,” he raised his eyebrows and quickly walked past Noah, patting him on the back as he did. 

Ben was not in the best state of mind, he hadn’t realized that he left his phone in the room – Noah went to alert the boy but he figured perhaps he could figure out the truth about Solus if he were to just take a quick peek. 

He moved over to the phone and picked it up, once the screen lit up he could see Ben had several unread messages from Danielle of all people. It quickly added up in Noah’s head, Ben defending Danielle suddenly when Noah called her shallow, and the messages – and then of course they were both in weird states. Now the question was, to really invade Ben and Danielle’s privacy and unlock the phone or not to? He knew Ben’s passcode, Ana’s birthday – and he was pretty sure that he hadn’t changed it yet.

He looked around and a moment later he quickly typed in Ana’s birthday, bingo, Ben still hadn’t changed it. He looked at the messages.

 **FROM DANIELLE:** Everything I said in there is true.

 **FROM DANIELLE:** I think we should talk about it…

 **FROM DANIELLE:** Please? I know it may seem stupid, but I kind of just want to know how you feel about the whole thing.

 **FROM DANIELLE:** I know you’re working right now, but if you get this I’m in the juice bar to talk to Kaylee… And I also want to talk about last night.

Noah’s eyes seemed to grow wider with each message, something happened between Ben and Danielle over on Solus and he wanted to find out what exactly that was. He locked the phone again and slipped it into his back pocket – he’d return it to Ben eventually, but before anything else, he’d talk to Kaylee about it.

He ran out of the room in search of Kaylee, the mystery of Ben and Danielle in Solus was sure to cheer her up from all the Frankie news. He didn’t even slow down when he passed Gil in the hall, he just wanted to get to Kaylee and blurt out all of this new information he had learned. Danielle had texted Ben to say she was going to talk to Kaylee in the juice bar, but hopefully she was finished with that. What if she had told Kaylee about Solus? Would she? Maybe Kaylee could tell Noah details. 

In the juice bar he found Kaylee sat by herself at one of the tables, “Kayls!” He called out as he sat opposite her, “I have just found out some very juicy gossip that I have to tell someone.”

“Okay…?” Kaylee laughed softly as she looked at Noah’s ecstatic expression.

“First of all, has Danielle told you anything about Solus?”

“She told me that Alex and Skye found a photo of the two of them when they were younger, that’s so weird!”

“Ah, but that’s not the only mysterious thing about Solus! You see, Danielle and Ben have been acting especially strange don’t you think?”

Kaylee shrugged, “I suppose Danielle’s actually seemed a bit nicer than usual… And Ben just seems out of it. Then Danielle rushed off at some point because she had to go talk to someone.”

“She’s talking to Ben,” Noah whispered, he pulled out Ben’s phone and unlocked it before sliding it across to Kaylee, “something happened between them on that island.”

Kaylee looked at the phone in disbelief, “whatever it is must really be playing with Danielle’s mind,” she whispered, leaning closer to Noah, “she never double texts, unless it’s been hours. These are all sent within five minutes.”

“Do you think…”

“Ben and Danielle?” Kaylee questioned, Noah nodded, the pair were clearly in sync with their thoughts, “no way! I mean Danielle likes… boys with money?”

Noah snatched the phone back and made various noises of fright suddenly, Ben was heading over to their table looking once again dazed. Noah put the phone into the pocket of his jacket and smiled up at Ben.

“Noah,” he looked at the boy and offered a smile, “have you seen my phone anywhere? I think I might have left it in the other room but it’s not in there so did you by any chance pick it up?”

Noah slowly let his face change to one of realization, “oh yeah, I did, sorry I thought it was mine,” he laughed and pulled the phone out of his pocket, “silly mistake. I was looking for you so I could return it.”

Ben smiled as Noah passed his phone back to him, he looked at the screen and then over to Noah and Kaylee who were watching him with straight faces, “did you unlock my phone?”

“I really thought it was mine…”

“Our passwords are different,” Ben narrowed his eyes, “so you just… Thought it was your phone but tried my password?”

“Well when I knew it wasn’t mine I knew it was yours or Sean’s, and I knew your password so I gave it a try.”

Ben put the phone into his pocket quickly, he continued to watch Noah, “so you didn’t… Look at anything, did you?”

“No, why, do you have naughty photos on there?” Noah taunted playfully, making Kaylee hide her laughter, “now I want to see them.”

“There’s no naughty photos,” Ben snapped, “just private texts that I don’t need you snooping through like you’re Sherlock Holmes.”

“Nothing’s been snooped through, that’s a Potts promise,” Noah grinned, Ben slowly nodded and turned away. 

Kaylee looked to Noah with wide eyes once again, “he’s going to see that those message from Danielle have been read.”

“Then I’ll say I didn’t actually read them!”

“You looked at his texts Noah.”

“No, you see, the texts were already open.”

Kaylee let out a sigh, “he’s still going to kill you…”

“Kayls, look,” he pointed through the doorway where they could see Danielle stop Ben in his path, “admit that it’s totally possible something happened between them.”

“Something did, you saw in Danielle’s texts.”

“Alright, Danielle’s expression right now – what do you think it is?” Noah asked curiously, with a good idea of what it was himself.

“She actually looks… She looks fragile,” Kaylee turned to Noah, “Noah, I think… What if Danielle does like Ben? And she told him on Solus? She said in her text that she meant what she said.”

“Danielle likes Ben,” Noah nodded, “it makes so much sense! Think about it, the pair of them were in the cave, what if something happened there?”

“Oh, the dance-a-thon,” Kaylee reminded Noah, “she looked like she was enjoying her time with him then!”

“What are you two talking about?” Alex sat down in front of Noah and Kaylee, blocking their view of Ben and Danielle.

“Hm? Nothing,” Noah responded quickly, “nothing at all.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Alex snorted out a laugh, she looked over her shoulder to see what they were watching, she turned back with a wide smile, “Ben and Danielle?”

“It’s just-“

“Something’s going on between them,” Alex spoke as though it was a fact, “they were alone in the wood shed for a while, probably getting all smooch – but what makes it better is that later when Sean mentioned the wood shed, they both got pretty defensive! All ‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ and stuff, then they seemed to get pretty angry with Sean. Denial, much?”

Noah and Kaylee could only watch Alex’s story unfold, her facts made everything so much better.

“Danielle told Ben something, maybe it was when they were in the woodshed,” Kaylee wondered aloud, “I reckon she told him that she likes him.”

Alex’s eyes were also wide, “you think so? That would make so much sense!”

“This is a bigger mystery than the gold,” Noah exclaimed – grinning wildly as he did.

“It’s not a mystery anymore,” Alex commented, glancing back again to where Danielle was watching Ben speak – a mischievous smile spread across Alex’s face, “she’s clearly got a thing for ol’ Benjamin.”

“Did she just twirl her hair?” Noah called out almost too loud, “she’s literally begging him to be with her by this point.”

“Oh, it’s all getting so saucy,” Alex commented, mostly joking, she leaned on the back of the chair as she watched the two. The trio all were watching, in fact, and they saw as Ben walked past Danielle – dropping his head as he walked. Danielle herself looked somewhat downtrodden, but the sullen look then changed to one of-

“Determination,” Alex mumbled under her breath, she spun back to Noah and Kaylee, “Danielle just has to prove herself and she can win Ben’s heart, that’s definitely what that look was.”

“And suddenly, Alex is a love guru,” Noah stated, raising an eyebrow at the redhead, “I thought the idea of ‘getting smoochy’ made you want to throw up.”

“Ugh, it does, but Danielle helping Ben get over Skye at long last is liberating to be honest,” Alex grinned widely, “we should help her.”

“No way,” Kaylee shook her head, “she’ll know we’ve been prying into her personal life, and she’ll then cut us out entirely.”

“Oh, I don’t mean give her advice,” Alex let out a snort of laughter, “I think we need to make hints to Ben.”

Noah hummed as he leaned forward, “alright, subtle hints only!”

“Okay, Operation Benielle is a-go,” Alex stood up from her seat.

“Benielle?” Kaylee questioned Noah as Alex ran off, the boy shrugged it off – knowing it was definitely not out of character for Alex to come up with something like that. 

* * * * * 

1 hour into their ‘mission’, Alex had managed to get Ben alone in a bedroom where they were changing the sheets on the two twin beds, and of course – as Alex does – she initiated a regular, casual, totally not at all suspicious, conversation. 

“Do you think you’re ever going to get Skye back?” 

The question seemingly hit Ben hard, he stopped what he was doing and glared over at her, “I… I don’t actually care anymore if I’m honest.”

“What?” Alex acted shocked, placing her hand to her chest just for dramatic effect, “but I thought you loved her?”

“I don’t think I even know what love really is yet.”

“Oh, so deep.”

Ben faked a laugh and then continued setting the bed, “why does it matter to you anyway?”

Alex shrugged, she suddenly stopped sorting out the sheets and instead sat down on the bed, “don’t you think… The whole thing is just so… You know?” She fiddled with the quilt and turned to Ben, “I mean… poor Danielle – and poor you! Both of you, ditched…”

Ben slowed down to watch the girl cautiously, and Alex knew she was already working the perfect subtle hint to him.

“It’s so… Oh my God.”

“What?”

“It’s like the perfect set up to a romance film, perfect rom-com. The two exes fall in love with each other and-” Alex stopped herself, realising… She was not at all subtle.

“Why are you talking about that?” Ben dropped the sheet and stormed around the bed to Alex, demanding an answer. 

“Well…”

“Danielle set you up to this?” Ben crossed his arms, “look, I told her I want someone who puts their friends first! Not someone who sends their friends to try and mind control me!”

“Woah, first off – don’t insult me like that, I am not Danielle’s friend. Secondly, I was being genuine.”

“So… Danielle didn’t send you?”

“No,” Alex rolled her eyes, “look, since we’re talking about this, can I ask you one yes or no question – and you can only answer yes or no!”

“Okay? Sure.”

“Do you like Danielle?”

Ben’s expression changed immediately, and he dropped his head slightly, now making his main focus the floor, “I- uh-“

“Yes or no, Benjamin!”

“Yes,” Ben looked back up, “okay? Yes, yes I like her.”

“Do you want to be with her?”

“You said one question.”

“Do you, Benjamin Evans, want to be with Danielle Clark?”

Another moment of hesitation, Ben let out a loud sigh, “yes.”

“Then ask her out!”

Ben shook his head, “I told her I want to be with someone who isn’t selfish, and… She said she’ll prove to me she isn’t, that she can be selfless. I want her to change for the better, Alex. I want her to prove to everyone, not just me, that she can be a truly wonderful, amazing, beautiful person! And I want-“

“You think she’s beautiful,” Alex interrupted, a grin on her face, “wow, I’ve never been so happy to know someone had a crush.”

“Wh-what? I-“

“It’s cool, I won’t tell,” Alex jumped up from the bed, “you think she’s beautiful… Maybe you should try telling her that, I know Danielle seems like this spoilt girl who loves herself more than anything, but I honestly think she could really do with someone else appreciating her – someone that she trusts, someone she’s fond of, someone she might just fall in love with.”

Alex could see the flicker of a smile on Ben’s face before he ducked his head once again, she then heard him speak again – this time in a quiet voice, “you think she could fall in love with me?”

“I think she’s already falling to be honest,” Alex hummed and placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “make the right decision, Benjamin.”

Then, without finishing the bed she was making, Alex left the room. Ben sighed and decided to finish working on the beds, the thoughts of Danielle continued in his mind – he knew he liked her, and thinking it through… He even had butterflies in his stomach whilst he thought of the girl. 

That was it really, Ben liked Danielle. Ben wanted to be with her.

* * * * * 

Danielle jumped as she turned a corner and came face to face with Kaylee, “oh my God, Kayls… You should wear a bell or something to make people aware of your presence.”

“What am I? A cat?” Kaylee laughed immediately.

“You look ridiculous cheery,” Danielle changed the subject, noting the girl’s smile.

“And you look… Less so.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just seem down,” she reached out and placed a hand on Danielle’s shoulder, “you’ll tell me if anything’s up, right?”

“Right, but you know you don’t need to worry about me, right? I can take care of myself,” she paused as she caught sight of Ben leaving one of the rooms at the lodge, “in fact… Is there anything I can do for you? I heard you’re performing at Enduro!”

“Yes,” Kaylee let out a brief laugh, “I’m so sorry I forgot to tell you myself! I’ll be performing with Noah.”

“And I will be there to support you,” Danielle smiled, speaking loud enough so she knew Ben would hear. She checked over her shoulder and sure enough he was watching her have a conversation with Kaylee, “Ben, you’re going to support Kaylee and Noah at Enduro, right?”

“Uh, right,” Ben nodded, “yeah. And Sean of course.”

“Then it’s a date,” Danielle stated, knowing the words would have a separate meaning to herself and Ben, she could see the boy tense up slightly. He slowly offered a smile to the girl.

“Yeah, it’s a uh… A date,” he then ducked his head and turned away, quickly walking in the other direction.

Danielle turned back to Kaylee who was grinning, “a date?” She questioned, “anything you want to talk to me about?”

Danielle quickly shook her head, “not really.”

“You and Ben just agreed to a date at Enduro.”

“Oh, that? It’s nothing really… Why, do you think it could be something more?”

“Danielle, he was blushing,” Kaylee whispered, grabbing Danielle’s hands, “do you like Ben?”

Danielle shrugged, “well… It’s entirely possible.”

“And you didn’t tell me because…?”

“Because I haven’t told anybody other than Ben,” she tucked some of her hair behind her ear and smiled, “he’s… Really nice, don’t you think?”

“Of course!” Kaylee replied with an excited expression, “and I’m guessing he likes you too, you two are going to be great together.”

“Problem is… He want me to show that I care for other people more than myself. I mean that’s not the problem! It’s just that I have to prove that to him first, you know?”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re coming to Enduro.”

“Yes, and also I’m now going with Ben,” Danielle’s smile grew and she twirled slightly on the spot, “a date… To Enduro.”

“You’re not at all put off by the fact it’s a bike race? There’ll be mud everywhere.”

“I kind of don’t care,” she whispered, “I think I want to be a better person now.”

“And then you can win Ben?”

“Win? He’s not some prize, Kaylee.”

Kaylee raised her eyebrows, and after letting out a laugh Danielle walked past her, the girl was clearly pleased with herself and perhaps even giddy from the idea that a boy liked her back. She had of course had Sean before, but the way she smiled and spoke about Ben seemed far more… real.

* * * * *

Noah hummed to himself proudly, as Kaylee and Alex both entered the room. Each with proud grins on their faces.

“Ben called Danielle beautiful,” Alex stated.

“Even better,” Kaylee clapped her hands together, “they’re going to Enduro together, and they both called it a date.”

Noah pulled an impressed face and sat down in a chair, “both very interesting.”

“What? Have you done better?”

“You could say that,” Noah shrugged.

“What did you do?”

“Well-“

“Ben!” Danielle’s voice yelled and the trio rushed to the doorway to watch the scene, “what are you playing at?”

“What am I playing at?”

“You can’t just go around saying you want me to prove myself to you and then leave me flowers randomly!”

“Me? How about you leaving me notes at reception?”

“What did you do?” Kaylee hissed to Noah.

“Danielle, you can’t just do that kind of thing! Anybody could have found it!”

“What?” Danielle shrieked, “don’t act like I did anything wrong here!”

“I told you how I feel, you said you understood and you wouldn’t keep going on!”

“You left me flowers in the juice bar, where anybody could have found it! I thought you didn’t want anyone knowing what happened in the wood shed!”

“What happened in the wood shed?” 

Noah grinned when Sean approached the pair, just as planned.

“Wh-what, I- uh,” Ben stammered over his words, glaring at Danielle for help.

Sean’s expression changed suddenly, “this is why you two were so weird! Did you two… Kiss?”

“N-no,” Danielle shook her head, and Ben said nothing, he only avoided eye contact with Sean.

“You did!” Sean exclaimed after noticing Ben’s awkwardness.

“No, we didn’t,” Ben whispered, “we… We almost did,” he admitted, “but I told Danielle that her being a selfish bratty little girl isn’t going to win me over!”

Danielle stared up at Ben, she seemed to take a sharp intake of breath before dropping her gaze and then turning and running away from the scene. 

“Noah!” Alex snapped to the boy, “well done, you’ve completely ruined it!”

“Wait,” Noah held up a finger.

“Danielle, wait!” On cue, Ben called out to the girl and then ran after her.

Noah turned to the two girls with a proud smile, “your boy has it sorted, they’re going to make up and realize that they do in fact need to be together.”

* * * * *

Ben followed Danielle out of the lodge, she had stopped running when she got out of the gate, so he caught up to her quickly, he reached out for her hand and grabbed it, spinning her back to him and stopping her from walking anyway. He placed his other hand on her waist.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, it was… It was horrible.”

“No, I get it. I am just a selfish bratty little girl.”

“No, you’re not Danielle. You’re so much more than that, I just… I was so… I don’t know. You know how I get, I pushed Sean down the stairs with the whole Skye scenario.”

Danielle didn’t look at Ben, she focused on the ground, “I’m just going to go home.”

“I finish work soon,” he whispered, “please wait for me.”

Danielle looked up to Ben at last, “why? So you can find out just how bratty I am?”

“So I can take you on a date,” Ben stepped closer, meaning Danielle had to tilt her head even more to look up to him, “and make it up to you. I shouldn’t have said that, I really shouldn’t have and I… I’m sorry. Please let me take you on a date.”

Danielle pressed her lips together and then stepped forward, she wrapped her arms around Ben and closed her eyes, “I want to change, Ben.”

“You can, I know you can. I’m sorry for saying that about you – it was harsh and… I’m just so sorry.”

Danielle pulled back from the hug and looked up at him, offering a small smile, “I don’t want to go on a date, but… Can you come back to mine and just… Talk to me?”

“Yes, of course,” Ben whispered in reply, as they broke apart from the hug he reached down and held her hand again. The pair then walked back into the lodge, noticing that people were turning to look at them, neither of them really minded in that moment. They were content. 

When they walked back into the building, they were watched by Alex, Noah, and Kaylee – the three of them seemed to react with proud grins and excited jumping. Danielle raised an eyebrow to Kaylee, but Kaylee only winked in return. In Ben’s hand, Danielle’s felt right. Their hands were a perfect fit, and Danielle didn’t want to let go – even when Ben went to take his place behind the reception. But she did – only because Ben had promised he’d be holding it again soon.

“So… Those notes?”

“I didn’t write them! What about the flowers?”

“I didn’t have time to get flowers,” Ben laughed, “so…”

Danielle showed Ben the small card that had been written out and left with the flowers, Ben cocked his head and then pulled out one of the notes from his pocket, the handwriting matched. They both noticed that the author of the notes wrote in all capital letters for them both, and on each note, the letter E wasn’t written with straight edges and pointed corners, it was a curved capital E… And Ben knew who it was.

“Noah,” he crossed his arms and looked over to the boy who was watching from the other room, Noah quickly turned away, hiding behind the wall. Ben wasn’t going to yell at him, neither was Danielle, instead the pair just laughed it off – knowing they’d be spending plenty of time together later because of Noah’s notes.


End file.
